


Marinette | Marionette

by MonkeeBratz



Series: Monkee's Maribat AUs [4]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Marinette becomes Marionette (aka Harley Quinn 2.0), The Author Regrets Everything, The Joker is his own warning, but will no longer be updating there, or even here tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:42:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24402247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonkeeBratz/pseuds/MonkeeBratz
Summary: After overhearing rumors of a Parisian Superhero helping the Birds and Bats of Gotham track him down for good, the Joker decides to teach the little fox a lesson.Only, he doesn't grab a little fox. He grabs a little ladybug.It doesn't end well.(Misc. Tumblr drabbles for the above au)
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Monkee's Maribat AUs [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1762030
Comments: 8
Kudos: 175





	1. Chapter 1

SO BASICALLY a main theme of Maribat aus is Marinette getting forgotten about/left behind in Gotham by the class and being found by the batfam. Now, in this particular au, Mari gets forgotten about and decides she might as well stay in her hotel room and try to get some things done. 

The hotel room she shares with Lila. Who demanded they room together so they could try and mend the rift between them during a stress free environment! … Yeah. Adrien is rooming with Nino and Chloe is with Sabrina and Miss Busteir is hellbent on them only being two to the room, and certainly NOT co-ed! So Marinette is stuck with Lila the whole trip and she’s about three seconds away from having a meltdown. Lila keeps ensuring that Marinette is left behind, claiming she’s ‘sick’ and doesn’t want to embarrass herself in front of such esteemed guests ie: the Wayne’s! 

Lila has also been spreading her typical lies. She, as Volpina, worked with the Batman and the Robins, why, the youngest and her had an on again off again thing with Damien Wayne! Oh, but you simply can’t tell anyone, his father would be so upset if he found out! They’re not all together right now, of course, but maybe they’ll reconnect while they’re here! 

And Batman, why, he was ever so impressed with her skills, he practically begged her to stay in Gotham! She just couldn’t though, you know, she had her responsibilities in Italy! It was such a shame to leave him, just when they were getting close to finishing the Joker off for good! It’s just the way of things you know, so sad…

SOMEBODY happens to overhear her. Shocking. And this of course, gets back to the Joker. Who manages to track down her hotel room. And grabs the wrong girl from it because they were vague as hell as which girl so he just grabbed whichever. 

And he grabbed Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Who was in her pjs and half asleep. And was separated from Tikki. 

You see where this is going. 

The Joker, unable to get any sort of information about her on the Batman, the Robins, her time as Volpina, or Damien Wayne, turns to the thing he does best. Torture. A-la Tim Drake ‘Joker Jr’ style. Except, of course, this time he isn’t looking for a little successor. He’s looking for a Harley Quinn replacement, since she ran off with Poison Ivy some time ago. And since Marinette is just too different from Harley, renames her Marionette. Sews ribbons to her wrists and ankles and dislocates her joints and makes her move with them unless she wants to get hurt more. Makes her her face is always in a perfect joker smile. 

Joker: What did you say your name was again, doll? Marionette? HA! ITS JUST TOO PERFECT! MY LITTLE MARIONETTE! AHAHAHA

… _**yikes**_

(A description of Marionette!Marinette since my tablet is busted to hell and im tired: Her hair is put up into high pigtails and chopped jaggedly. Has round little pink cheek marks and a big red smile. Her hair also takes on a more green tone. Think MHA Midoriya Izuku. There’s the… ribbons sewn on her wrists and ankles in a bright red as well. Her dress is a classic pinafore dress with a white shirt underneath, the dress has dark black-green and bright red stripes, with pink trim. Its all very, very creepy. She also has a hammer a-la Sonic’s Amy Rose) 

Now, Marinette is missing for 2 out of the 3 week trip. Adrien and Chloe quickly get suspicious but can’t manage to sneak into the room with the class going on and on about Marinette being so contagious and really, they don’t want to be sick and miserable on this trip! Not that they care that Mari is. Y’know. 

Chloe doesn’t have her Miraculous but she DOES bring up the idea of trying to track down Batman. Because they can’t take this to the police and they also can’t convince Lila to let them in the room and CONFIRM that Marinette is actually there. So Adrien keeps transforming into Chat Noir at night to try and track down the Batman and/or the Robins. 

He confirms that Marinette is missing but he doesn’t find the Gotham Hero’s fast enough. 

The initial meeting between the Batfam and Chat Noir goes PRETTY POORLY. Nightwing basically dangles him off a building by the front of his shirt and demands to know what the hell he’s doing. And Chat is just a jumbled mess of French and English and trying to explain and he just sort of. Breaks down. 

Batman and the other Robins show up and he explains that a girl in a visiting French class, one of his civilian friends (yes that’s irresponsible of him but THIS ISN’T THE FUCKING TIME DUDE) has been missing for up to two weeks. Her assigned roommate has been lying much of the trip, saying how Marinette is sick, and going on about Lila’s lies. How she knows the Wayne’s, how she’s worked with the Batfam, how she came close to taking down the Joker-… 

And then it clicks. Because what other villain would be crazy enough to kidnap a civilian that knows his arch enemy? 

And then EVERYBODY’S on high alert trying to track down Marinette Dupain-Cheng before its too late. (But Tim knows better. Better than any of them. Its far, far too late for this poor girl. She’ll just… have to heal. They have to deal with another failure.) 

They don’t find her. Not before she finds them. 

Adrien tells Chloe how he managed to track down the hero’s and they’re looking fro Marinette as they speak. They go to Wayne Enterprises as planned, and they’re both nervous as hell. Dick is leading the tour, yada yada, overhears Lila’s lies and just. Is so close to throwing hands with a thirteen year old because holy shit? This is the girl that got her classmate kidnapped and tortured? WHAT? THE FUCK?!

The tour gets crashed, of course, by the Joker. And Marionette. Everybody takes a minute to recognize her and then is promptly horrified. Their everyday Ladybug is, is… THAT. 

The Joker holding the class hostage with some goons with guns and pinches Marionette’s cheek. Tells Dick that he expects Batman here to see how his little fox turned out! OH! And little Damien, too, won’t he be excited to see how his girlfriend turned out after the same treatment as his big brother? And Dick is SEETHING bc only this motherfucker would joke about that. 

Joker pinches one of Marionette’s cheeks and tells her to take it away! 

And Marionette starts singing. Specifically, she starts singing [‘Other Friends’ from Steven Universe](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DV-KheQrmvsE&t=NDhkOTIxYjA2MjBkNjk5OTA1MjUyYzk2Y2UwNWY4M2ExMDVmOGZkNSxRZEF2ZGtEeA%3D%3D&b=t%3AUv3Z1NaQMeUmdR5kJGraLQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fmonkeebratz.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F188556949852%2Fmaribat-au-marionette-harley-quinn-20&m=0). Starts swinging her huge hammer at the class and actually breaks some limbs. She mostly goes for Lila and Alya, and takes out anybody in her way. Adrien and Dick are trying to keep casualties to a minimum but its not working. 

Especially when Alya is fucking broadcasting this to the Ladyblog, going on about how Marinette’s been akumatized. Adrien just screams at her that this isn’t Paris! This isn’t an akumatization! There is no Miraculous Cure to fix everything! But it just doesn’t seem to click for Alya. Not until Marionette is in front of her and crushes her arm, knocking her to the ground and grinning at her maniacally. 

Batman and the Robins (minus Nightwing obviously) bust in just in time to stop Mari from actually killing her friend, and Batman goes after the Joker and Red Robin is the one who Primarily fights Marionette. While the rest of the class flees, Adrien separates himself and transforms into Chat Noir. Yada yada, fight scenes that I’m bad at, Batman kicks the Joker’s ass, nobody actually gets shot by the goons, Chat and Red Robin are trying to subdue Marionette. 

Red Robin gets the hammer away from Marionette and Chat hugs/confines her and keeps murmuring to her in French. Mari breaks down in Chat’s arms and just. Sobs. Holds onto him and cries it out. And Adrien just feels his anger rise and once Mari cries herself to sleep, he very very gently places her in Red Robin’s arms and tells him to just. Hold her for a minute. He’ll be back. 

Stomps over to Batman, who’s restraining a laughing Joker. Calls for Cataclysm. Presses his open hand to Jokers smug face. And kills him. He fades to dust and there’s no Lucky Charm and Miraculous Cure to fix this. 

Batman is, understandably, pissed. Red Robin is not. 

Chat and Batman get into it. Batman grabs the younger hero by the bell and shakes him bc this is HIS city, Chat Noir has no right-!

Chat: HE TORTURED MY FRIEND! HE HURT MY BEST FRIEND UNTIL SHE HURT PEOPLE! THE SWEETEST, MOST KIND, FORGIVING PERSON I’VE EVER MET, TURNED INTO A VILLAIN! BECAUSE YOU CAN’T HAVE A DEATH ON YOUR FUCKING CONSCIOUS YOU HYPOCRITICAL SON OF A-

and Adrien doesn’t even realize that his transformation has ended and Batman has a hand full of teenager, who’s crying and kicking and screaming bc his best friend in the whole world was tortured into this, this… thing. And he couldn’t save her. He couldn’t do anything about it. 

and they all hear a quiet “… Kitty?” and Mari is awake and staring at him with that unnerving grin and she starts crying again bc oh no. Their identities. And Plagg rushes over and starts comforting her, reassuring he’ll get Tikki, they’ll fix this, yeah? No need to cry, eh? Kid. Kid get over here and comfort your Lady. 

And Adrien rips himself out of Batmans hold and goes to hold Mari as she starts to cry even MORE bc this is all her fault! She’s so sorry, she never meant for him to reveil his identity, she didn’t mean for him to kill anybody, she’s so sorry this is all her fault! And she’s just. Crying and laughing and broken sounding and Adrien’s heart just breaks as he holds her against his chest. 

And the Batfam can’t think of a single word to say. The police come and Mari has to go to Arkham, the’re really the only people who know how to handle this. But they can’t separate her from Adrien, and he just. Volunteers to go with her. He’ll be committed too. Whatever it takes. So they let Mari and Adrien stay together and try to get her most obvious injuries treated, and Adrien carefully and gently washes the makeup off Marinette’s face and lets her squeeze his hands as much and as hard as she needs. 

Now, its not standard protocol to have two people to a cell but all things considered, well… They can’t stand to separate them. And the majority of the Rouge Gallery is in Arkham atm so they hear all about this and they’re all just… stunned. The Joker’s dead. He tortured another little kid, a little girl. 

Harleen Quinzel and Pamela Iverson are on the war path. The first day Adrien and Marinette are in the common room (Adrien is in the same scrubs as everyone else and Mari has bandages on the wrists and ankles and patches everywhere and a grin on her face. Its still wide but its not quite… as much. As it was) they go and introduce themselves. Adrien puts himself between them ready to FIGHT but they tell him to relax. They’re here to make sure nobody bothers them. They notice Mari clutching two small red and black things to her chest but they don’t mention it. Harley is livid Joker did what he did and she’s all for helping this girl heal and go back to a normal life. She’s too young to be dealing with this. And dear ol’ Pam is about two second away from using some filched sunflower seeds to strangle the next person to even make this Mari girl flinch even remotely. 

They all surprisingly get along well. But its a slow, slow process. Mari wakes up screaming some nights, and Adrien is never going to have that perfect model nose every again. 

Speaking of, though. Gabriel. He shows up in Gotham demanding how this could have happened even after the class has gone back to Paris and wants his son out of Gotham’s damn insane asylum this minute! 

Also Gabe getting a slap to the face bc this is… this is what he’s been doing in Paris, isn’t it. He sees his son (and the Miraculous, how could he have been so blind) and he sees him comforting this girl who’s been contorted into something she isn’t by a man who was using her for his own gain and he feels… sick. He doesn’t take the Miraculous jewelry. He doesn’t make any more akuma’s. But he does go back to his hotel room and drink himself into a blubbering stupor. 

Adrien and Marinette stay with the Wayne’s after Fu shows up in Gotham. Because Gabriel had all but tossed the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous at him in his haste just. To leave this all. He won’t be like that man. He… he can’t. He just can’t. His wife would be horrified with him. 

(Fu and Alfred have my Classic TM backstory in which they, as well as Marianne, were a Miraculous team (Peacock/Black Cat/Ladybug) during the Nazi occupation of France and lost touch after having to go their separate ways to ensure they didn’t fall into their hands.) 

Fu came to Gotham and met with Alfred and basically begged for his assistance because this? this is his fault. He should have kept Marinette in Paris, he should have taken her concerns more seriously. Another life shattering mistake rests on his shoulders, and its just as devastating. Fu has a good cry with Alfred, who reassures him that he and his successor and her partner can stay in Wayne Manor for as long as it takes. 

Because they WILL be staying in Wayne Manor as friends of Alfred’s, no matter the personal issues Bruce has with Adrien. Fu WILL be given whatever he needs to help that girl heal, bc Arkham will let her out once they’re sure she isn’t TOO much of a threat to herself or others. And Bruce WILL deal with it, or so help him, Alfred won’t speak to him until this is finished. Because Alfred bears just as much responsibility for what was going on in Paris and has his own sins to atone for. 

Its a tense time in Wayne Manor as Marinette heals from what happened. 


	2. Asks and Art!

[_zazzlejazzle:_](https://zazzlejazzle.tumblr.com/post/188563175938/maribat-au-marionette-harley-quinn-20) Would’ve done it digitally but I’m also tired and I have no idea how to use watercolour but I think this is how marionette/mini harlequin!marinette looks like based on your description. I’ll redraw this when I have the time, digitally- ((If it looks sloppy and rushed, it’s because it is lol))

_monkeebratz:_ OH MY GOSH? OOOHHH MY GOSH I LOVE HER?! YOU DREW HER SO WELL, SHE’S LIKE, JUST WHAT I IMAGINED! THANK YOU SO MUCH

* * *

[Image's Description: multiple tumblr asks.

vixen-uchiha: Were are Mari's parents in all this

mochinek0:Omg! Plz tag me if you continue. What happens with the class? Does batman/the others tell them why marinette is like this? How do they handle lila's story? I have so many questions!!!

zazzlejazzle: Oh cool, there goes half my draft of a similar au. But!! This is awesome!! Huge angst but with a happy ending (?) Still a bit confused at how she shook herself out of the joker poison solution to recognize chat? Or was it upon sight it shook her to realise what she used to be? Reguardless, wonderfully and clearly written, came for the alternate au but I got a story and I'm really digging it owo

kuroko26: Wow! Yep, loving the pain in this story once again! Also, kudos for making epiphany hit Gabriel hard!!! Bc he's really doing what Joker did to Marinette and Tim on the movie with his akumas! Hopefully the poor kids will recover... and the liar and idiots get what they deserve... of there's more to write, if so tag me please!

mylife-demonstrates-murphys-law: I just read Marionette/harly Quinn 2.0 fic Do you care if I use the idea? I don't want to steal it bc it is yours but it's a really cool idea and I would love to try my hand at something similar

mewwitch: In the Marionette AU, does Lila face any sort of consequences for her part in the whole mess? How does the class/people in Paris reac in the aftermath of what happened to Marinette?]

[@zazzlejazzle](https://tmblr.co/mFYQNyP175i2XXu0hb-4OBQ) tbh I would love to see your similar au! Don’t be discouraged that I jotted down my stuff first in a fit of work induced rage. I would love to see your version of it, so go for it! (Also thank you so much for your kind words I’m just kinda happy crying over them. You’re so sweet!) 

[@mylife-demonstrates-murphys-law](https://tmblr.co/m29g3ecVdAlzrC9wp6Q0Nxg) As long as you link back to the idea/give credit, I have no problem with you doing something with this au! Honestly I would be super duper excited to see somebody else turn their hand to this story, especially because I don’t really have any plans to continue it seriously lol. If you DO end up doing something with it, please tag/link me too it, I would love to see what you do with it! 

… And y’know in the interest of actually finishing this bc there WAS a whole part of the au i was too tired to keep writing (what happens with Lila/Marinette’s Parents/etc) I figured I’d write it out now, especially since there seems to be so much interest in this! 

Because the idea was that both Batman AND Damien (as his civilian self) sue Lila into the ground. She’s also charged with being an accessory to kidnapping and what have you since she knew Marinette was missing and kept lying and saying otherwise. Lila gets send to jail and tried as an adult bc seriously. She was responsible for the kidnapping and torture of another classmate, and no matter how young you are that’s just. So fucked up. Consequences for Lila please and thank you. 

As for Marinette’s parents, they absolutely know what’s going on. They’re contacted by the Gotham Police, as well as the French Embassy, there’s lots of apologies from both but neither of them give one single shit. They shut down the bakery and go to Gotham to see Marinette in Arkham and they’re just… devastated. They knew things in school weren’t great, but their daughter didn’t want to transfer and maybe if they had pushed the issue this wouldn’t have happened. Their poor little girl…

Marinette, is, honestly, a little terrified to see them. Because this was never supposed to happen. Not to her. And she knows they’ll blame herself but its nobody’s fault but hers. (Its nobody’s fault but LILA’S but its gonna take some serious therapy and reminders for that to stick.) Mari is happy to see them when they do first show up but insists that they should go back to Paris and take care of the Bakery. She doesn’t want them to see her like this. Bruce Wayne, of course, offers to cover the cost of any trips, extended or short, for the Dupain-Cheng family so they can see their daughter as they wish… .Honestly they probably just end up staying at Wayne Manor with everybody else until Mari comes to stay with everybody when Arkham deems her ‘not a threat to herself or anybody else.’ 

And as far as the class goes, they also get charged with some things. Nothing as serious as Lila, and they certainly don’t do any jail time, but still. They were partially responsible for what happened to Marinette. For Alya it still takes some time that Marinette wasn’t akumatized so there’s no quick fix to what happened. And that she, believing Lila over Marinette, helped ensure this happened to her best friend. She’s just so angry, at herself, at Lila, at the world. This isn’t fair! 

But life has never been fair. 

Honestly the whole class is pretty shaken up about it. It can be up to you guys where they go with it. 

Now, honestly, I didn’t think at ALL what the city of Paris would think of this! And there’s no way they don’t find out what happens. I mean, Marinette babysits for Nadja fucking Chamac, who seems to be one of the only news reporter in Paris, or at least the most popular. Once she hears what happens, vaguely, from Sabine and Tom, after she calls them to see if Marinette can babysit Manon, she goes full deep dive into the story. And, after checking in with the Dupain-Cheng’s, airs the story to all of Paris. Everyone hears how Miss Busteir’s class had a hand in one of their own being kidnapped by Gothams (former) Clown Prince of Crime. They hear about how Chat Noir killed him after coming onto the scene. (Nobody thinks too hard about why he was there.) There’s mixed feelings about how and why a teenager had to do this but the overwhelming agreement is that the bastard had it coming. The video of Marionette!Mari is taken down but the internet is forever. Despite any names not given, the people of Paris still figure out what happened. Mari gets a lot of encouraging fanmail and gifts sent to Arkham that get filtered by her parents. She gets to look at letters and such while she’s still at the asylum but gifts wait until she’s at Wayne Manor. 

(Also insert Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale doing all SORTS of fundraising and outreach so something like this doesn’t happen again. Any and all proceeds from their concerts or merch for the next few months goes to pay for Mari’s treatment and supporting the Dupain-Cheng’s afloat while they help Mari heal form what happen. They also slap some lawsuits to Lila bc she LIED ABOUT THEM AND ALSO GOT MARINETTE IN THIS SITUATION. FUCK THIS GIRL.)

… Also, the huge news coverage is also probably how Fu finds out what happens and he’s just. horrified. Immediately drops everything to come to Gotham and help. Has his own meltdown. Its like, vaguely known that Mari knows Fu, but they didn’t realize they were so close. But lets be real they don’t care, since Mari is so happy to see him. 

And as far as Marinette breaking through the Jokers… whatever you’d like to call it. Its a combination of being with Joker for a week less than Tim was, as well as just. She knows Chat Noir. They’re partners. Two halves of a whole, if you think of their Miraculi. He’s always been there to help her even if he got caught by the villain. Though this time, their usual roles are reversed. And she just knows that Chat is going to save her. There’s a lot of Chat trying to get Mari (ngl he calls her Princess and Mari alternatively for the entire conversation) to remember that this isn’t who she is! She’s their everyday Ldaybug! Please, Princess! Mari, please…

(Also just. Watch[ this scene of Robin killing the Joker](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FEtst4t3ES8Y%3Ft%3D150&t=MTFmMWZhOWMwOTM0YmRkNWYyY2EyOWY0N2UyOTU4ODlmMWJlNDk1NCx0VE4yeW1RTg%3D%3D&b=t%3AUv3Z1NaQMeUmdR5kJGraLQ&p=https%3A%2F%2Fmonkeebratz.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F188577895897%2Fvixen-uchiha-mochinek0-kuroko26-mewwitch&m=0). Christ. This is, in essence, what happens with Marinette and Adrien, though Adrien’s the one to kill Joker once Mari tires herself out with her breakdown.) 

Now, I’m going to be honest, I don’t plan on continuing this au! This was mostly a one/two shot getting out some frustrations after a rough day and having an idea in a fit of wanting to strangle my co-workers. Now, if any of you would like to continue this au, please do so! Or, if its inspired you, go for it! Tag me either way, I’d love to see what you guys do with it. 


End file.
